December 09, 2010

Mayoral candidate Del Valle touts environmental agenda

Mayoral candidate and City Clerk Miguel del Valle said today that if elected, he will appoint a chief environmental officer, expand residential recycling to the entire city, protect Chicago’s waterways and continue to “keep Chicago beautiful.”

As part of his environmental plan for the city, del Valle said his expansion of Blue Bin recycling would include high-density condos. He said that as mayor he also intends to repair and rebuild the water and sewer infrastructure to ensure efficiency and reduce waste. And he would hire a chief environmental officer to coordinate sustainability efforts with other government entities, the business sector and environmental advocacy groups.

While downtown beautification projects are crucial, neighborhood parks, boulevards and community gardens should not be neglected, del Valle said.

“We need to convert from the city that works into the city that works for all, not just the central business district,” del Valle said at The Plant, an old meatpacking building on the Southwest Side that is being converted into an urban farming center.

Mayor Richard Daley has been unable to expand the recycling program, citing a lack of money. Del Valle didn't say how he'd pay for his environmental agenda.

Also today, one of the newcomer candidates for mayor braved chilly temperatures outside Fenger High School to call for a coordinated plan to address Chicago's "unacceptable" level of violence.

Activist Patricia Watkins appeared with a pair of onetime gang members who credit her for helping to turn them into anti-crime advocates with the CeaseFire organization.

The news conference came a day after a 15-year-old was convicted in juvenile court in the murder of Derrion Albert, 16, an honor student at Fenger killed in a brawl last year that was captured in a shocking video seen worldwide. Watkins once attended the school.

She said a greater role for CeaseFire, better employment options for ex-offenders returning to the city and community members working closer with Chicago police could reduce violence without adding cops to the streets.

"More police are extremely important, but it's wrong for us to just put police officers out there in the line of fire and the rest of us go home," Watkins said. "I think that in order for us to solve the challenges that we face as a city now, we cannot look to the old bag of tricks that have been used in the past. We have to use unconventional strategies to bring about the change we need."

All 50 aldermen on the Chicago City Council had to file paperwork earlier this year detailing their outside income and gifts. The Tribune took that ethics paperwork and posted the information here for you to see. You can search by ward number or alderman's last name.

The Cook County Assessor's office has put together lists of projected median property tax bills for all suburban towns and city neighborhoods. We've posted them for you to get a look at who's paying more and who's paying less.

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Clout has a special meaning in Chicago, where it can be a noun, a verb or an adjective. This exercise of political influence in a uniquely Chicago style was chronicled in the Tribune cartoon "Clout Street" in the early 1980s. Clout Street, the blog, offers an inside look at the politics practiced from Chicago's City Hall to the Statehouse in Springfield, through the eyes of the Tribune's political and government reporters.